Cover to protect window panes and the like during painting



Dec. 22, 1970 J. DEARING 3,549,448

COVER TO PROTECT WINDOW PANES AND THE LIKE DURING PAINTING Filed Oct. 6,1967 IN VEN TOR.

/0 850/, 4. ZAELQE/A/G', 3;;

' mmq 160/1! Patented Dec. 22, 1970 COVER TO PROTECT WINDOW PANES ANDTHE LIKE DURING PAINTING Joseph L. Dearing, 1525 W. Crabtree Road,

on, Tenn. 37343 Filed Oct. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 673,393 Int. Cl. B4411 1/52US. Cl. 156-250 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Means to protectframed window panes or the like during the painting of such frames, saidmeans comprising: one or more webs of plastic material covering at leastone entire surface of said pane and secured thereto and removabletherefrom after painting the surrounding frame.

It is an object of this invention to provide a means by which fullyassembled window and door frames as well as framed mirrors, panels orthe like, may be fully assembled and the surrounding frameworkthoroughly painted without the slightest care, attention or skill beingdirected to confining the application of paint to the framing alone,thereby to avoid smearing or other defacing of the glass or the likecomp-rising the particular pane. It is well known that with presentlabor costs and using conventional brush methods, unless a very highdegree of skill is used in painting around window panes, a considerableamount of time must be spent with a razor blade or other scraper inorder to remove defacing smears and drops of paint from the window paneitself. This is accentuated when spray painting is done.

As used herein, the terms window frame and window pane shall be taken toinclude frames or panes of doors, mirrors, panels or the like, and theterm pane shall include not only glass but rigid plastic such as acrylicplastic sheets or anything else serving the purpose of glass in asimilar relationship. The essential feature is that there be framesurface adjoining a pane surface and that it be desired to paint theframe without devoting time and skill to the avoidance of defacing thepane surrounded by the frame or conversely devoting time and skill toremoving from the pane the drops and smears which otherwise normallyoccur in the course of painting any such framework.

To a lesser degree, the same problem exists in painting around framescreens in which the defacing, although less noticeable, is onlyslightly less objectionable and for the purpose of this invention theterm pane shall be taken to include screens as well as glass, acrylicplastic sheets or the like.

This invention will best be understood from the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a further perspective view showing how the protective cover orcoating is removed from the immediately adjacent painted surfaces;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a window frame in which the pane isprotected by the improved cover and is shown prior to the paintingoperation;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, showing the relationship of theparts after the protective covering is removed;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing an alternative method ofsecuring the protective cover to a pane;

FIG. 6 is a further perspective view showing still another alternativearrangement; and

FIG. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a pane of glass or the like 10having on one side a sheet of flexible transparent plastic material 12and on the opposite side a similar sheet 14. Transparency of the sheets12 and 14 will usually be desirable but not essential. The sheets 12 and14 are adhered to the pane 10 by marginal adhesive areas 16. These areas16 may consist of adhesive applied to the glass prior to the applicationof sheets 12 and 14 or the adhesive may be marginally applied to thesheets 12 and 14 or the adhesive may be of the pressure-sensitive typeapplied either to the margins of the sheets 12 and 14 or to the marginsof the pane 10. In either case, there is complete coverage of either orboth sides of the pane L0 as may be desired.

In FIG. 3, the assembly of FIG. 1 is shown mounted in a groove 18 formedin a framing member 20 and secured there by conventional putty 22.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, a knife 24 is used to sever the plasticsheet 12 along the line defined by either the frame 20 or the putty 22and then the sheet 12 or, on the obverse side, the sheet .14 is peeledaway. Any paint which is accumulated on either of the sheets 12 or 14 isremoved with the sheets and, as particularly shown in FIG. 4, the outermargin of sheets 12 and 14 remain in the groove held either by thematerial of the frame 20 or by the putty 22.

In FIG. 5, the sheets 12 and 14 are shown secured to the pane 10 bybands of adhesive material 26 and 27. The bands 26 and 27 may be ofpressure-sensitive type such, for example, as cellophane tape. The tape26, as shown, may be placed anywhere along the mating margins of thepane 10 and the sheets 12 and 14. Tape 27 is shown in the preferredlocation which is at the corner with the tape overlapping thesuperimposed margins. In this connection, the use of pressure-sensitivetape is a matter of choice. Heat scalable tape or even separately gluedtape could be used just as well. In any case, the end product is thesame except that there would be included appropriate portions of tapes26 and 27, as well as the portions illustrated in FIG. 4 of sheets 12and 14.

As thus far discussed, the invention has been concerned with theapplication and securement of independent sheets on opposite faces of apane. In FIGS. 6 and 7, concern is with the formation of a bag,envelope, tube or wrapper, into which a pane may be inserted so that notonly the opposed broad faces are covered but also one or more of theedges. Before entering upon a discussion of the numerous alternatives ofwhich FIGS. 6 and 7 merely are broadly representative, it may be well toproceed to an analysis of the requirements of manufacture. Supose, forexample, that the customer is a millwork manufacturer who assembleswindow frames containing multiple panes and wishes to purchase suchpanes individually precut to a standard size. In that case, thepurchaser no doubt would prefer to receive the panes with the plasticalready applied by one means or another and requiring only insertioninto the frames, puttying and thereafter painting. In this connection,it should be noted that when a pane is finally secured into a frame withthe major surfaces of the pane overlaid by well-secured plastic materialthere has been introduced a considerable safety factor against breakagein shipment and an additional safety factor in that, should breakageoccur, the broken glass is pretty much confined within the opposed websof plastic and is not scattered about to present a hazard either toperson or property.

Now, with such a customer, the supplier of the precut pre-protectedglass has a number of choices between variations of his own operation.He may, for example, follow the practice indicated in FIG. 1 or that ofFIG. 5,

or he may proceed by any of the numerous procedures discussedhereinafter and the choice will be dictated by the cost sheet. Forpresent purposes, it is not an over-simplification to say that the costsheet is made up only of labor and material. For example, so far as thecost of sheet plastic is concerned, FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 are identical. Thecost of adhesive in FIG. 1 will be less than the cost of cellophane tapein FIG. 5, but more square inches of adhesive are required in FIG. 1than there are required square inches of cellophane tape in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are intended as a very general representation of thecombination of a pane with a form of preformed container. The precisetype of container, except from a cost standpoint, is entirelyimmaterial, that is, whether the container be denominated a bag, pouch,sleeve, envelope or wrapper, does not matter. The point is that whenboth volume and labor costs are high, it may be cheaper to pay more fora preformed container into which the panes may be inserted by automaticmachinery.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, the pane 10 has its margins enclosed by strips 30which are bent to U-form around the margins and trimmed as at 32 toproduce smooth surfaced joints. The exterior surface of the tape 30 maybe pressuresensitive adhesive or coated with a glue or the like andsuperimposed thereon are sheets 12 and 14 which coact with the tape toform a container. This construction, of course, produces a very snug fitand really constitutes more a wrapper than a container since it isformed about the pane 10 at the time of use. A preformed container suchas an extruded plastic sleeve or a preformed bag or envelope would haveto be a little more slack fitting in order to accommodate the pane beinginserted. Extruded tubes or bags, however, and conventional bags,pouches and envelopes may be manufactured at exceedingly high speed andwhen the volume warrants, probably the cost sheet would tip in theirfavor. Usually, in any such case, one edge 10" of the pane 1-0 will beleft exposed though this easily can be closed in the case of mostcontainers.

While certain specific forms have been disclosed herein and othersdiscussed, it is not intended to limit this invention to the precisedetails disclosed but only as set forth in the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of painting window frames comprising: providing an assembledframe; providing a window pane having at least one of its major surfacescovered with a sheet of flexible, paint-impervious plastic materialsubstantially coextensive with said pane; inserting said pane in saidframe and securing the same in place by means overlying the edges ofsaid pane and said sheet; painting said frame; thereafter severing saidsheet along the line of its emergence from said securing means andremoving the portion defined by such lines of severance.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1, in which said sheet is at leastpartially adhered to said pane.

3. A method as set forth in claim 1, in which said pane is enclosed in aclose-fitting container formed from said sheet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,400,139 5/1946 Roland l6l2032,191,367 2/1940 Carothers 16145 2,783,176 2/1957 Boicey 161-204X2,991,188 7/1961 Wing et al. 1176X FOREIGN PATENTS 614,087 12/1948 GreatBritain 117-6 HAROLD ANSHER, Primary Examiner J. C. GIL, AssistantExaminer US. 01. X.R.

